1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Standings

Jeff Gordon prevailed in a three-way showdown with Dale Jarrett and Mark Martin to win the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup championship.

1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Champion Jeff Gordon
1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Champion Jeff Gordon

Gordon took the points lead with a September victory in Darlington's Mountain Dew Southern 500 and maintained the narrow advantage over his rivals for the rest of the season. Gordon posted his second NASCAR Winston Cup championship by a close 14 points over runner-up Jarrett. Martin was only 29 points behind in the closest three-way title chase in NASCAR Winston Cup history.

The points lead changed hands seven times among four drivers. Gordon led most of the season, but Jarrett, Martin, and Terry Labonte enjoyed brief stints atop the points standings.

Gordon racked up 10 wins during the season, while Jarrett won seven events and Martin grabbed four ­victories. See how everyone else fared with the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Standings chart below.

1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Standings

Rank DriverPoints
Wins
Earnings
1 Jeff Gordon
 4,710 10 $6,375,658
2 Dale Jarrett
 4,696 7 3,240,542
3 Mark Martin
 4,681 4 2,532,484
4 Jeff Burton
 4,285 3 2,296,614
5 Dale Earnhardt
 4,216 0 2,151,909
6 Terry Labonte
 4,177 1 2,270,144
7 Bobby Labonte
 4,101 1 2,217,999
8 Bill Elliott
 3,836 0 1,607,827
9 Rusty Wallace
 3,598 1 1,705,625
10 Ken Schrader
 3,576 0 1,355,292
11 Johnny Benson, Jr.
 3,575 0 1,256,457
12 Ted Musgrave
 3,556 0 1,256,680
13 Jeremy Mayfield
 3,547 0 1,067,203
14 Ernie Irvan
 3,534 1 1,614,281
15 Kyle Petty
 3,455 0 984,314
16 Bobby Hamilton
 3,450 1 1,478,843
17 Ricky Rudd
 3,330 2 1,975,981
18 Michael Waltrip
 3,173 0 1,138,599
19 Ricky Craven
 3,108 0 1,259,550
20 Jimmy Spencer
 3,079 0 1,073,779
21 Steve Grissom
 3,061 0 1,074,374
22 Geoff Bodine
 3,046 0 1,092,734
23 John Andretti
 3,019 1 1,143,725
24 Ward Burton
 2,987 0 1,004,944
25 Sterling Marlin
 2,954 0 1,301,370
26 Darrell Waltrip
 2,942 0 958,679
27 Derrike Cope
 2,901 0 707,404
28 Joe Nemechek
 2,754 0 732,194
29 Brett Bodine
 2,716 0 936,694
30 Mike Skinner
 2,669 0 900,569
31 Dick Trickle
 2,629 0 656,189
32 Rick Mast
 2,569 0 829,339
33 Kenny Wallace
 2,462 0 939,001
34 Hut Stricklin
 2,423 0 802,904
35 Lake Speed
 2,301 0 715,074
36 Chad Little
 2,081 0 555,914
37 David Green
 2,038 0 512,583
38 Morgan Shepherd
 2,033 0 662,999
39 Jeff Green
 1,624 0 434,685
40 Robby Gordon
 1,495 0 622,439
41 Wally Dallenbach, Jr.
 1,475 0 471,479
42 Dave Marcis
 1,405 0 427,364
43 Robert Pressley
 984 0 252,478
44 Gary Bradberry
 868 0 251,930
45 Greg Sacks
 778 0 320,714
46 Mike Wallace
 541 0 159,303
47 Bobby Hillin, Jr.
 511 0 211,978
48 Lance Hooper
 402 0 145,000
49 Kenny Irwin
 390 0 71,730
50 Billy Standridge
 366 0 149,824

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